8 Nutritional Truths That Will Change Your Life

8 Nutritional Truths That Will Change Your Life

Over the last two decades few things have become more confusing and daunting than “healthy eating.” Not only are we confused by what the term “healthy” means, but we have also bought into a lot of ridiculous ideas. Today I am going to share 8 nutritional truths that have changed my life for the better. I have learned most of these by doing the exact opposite so I’m hoping to save you some of the trouble.

Here are 8 nutritional truths you will find embraced on this blog:

Don’t Go “On A Diet”, Change Your Diet: You do not need to be “on a diet.” Seriously, purge that whole phrase from your vocabulary. Being “on” a diet implies that you will eventually go “off” the diet. Then, you will get stuck in that never ending and maddening cycle of going on and off diets but never achieving a lasting result. You do likely need to change your diet, but you need to change it for good by making small, incremental changes to your food choices and the way you think about food. That is the help you will get here.

Learn The Difference Between Feeding Your Body and Nourishing Your Body: You can feed your body virtually anything, but certain foods help to nourish your body as well. While an apple and 10 M & Ms might have the same amount of calories, the apple is full of vital nutrients while the M & M’s are just full of empty calories.

Skinny Does Not = Healthy: By changing your diet, you will likely lose weight, and that is fine. But, let’s be honest, being skinny or thinner does not always equal being healthier. This is a BIG topic and one that I know you might be struggling with. Our society puts undue value on being thin, and once you develop that mind set, it is really hard to escape. But you have got to start trying. Just as you are going to purge being “on a diet” from your list of things to do, it is also time to start working towards healthy, not skinny. We’ll talk about getting rid of your scale soon, so prepare thy self.

Working Out More Does Not Give You a License To Eat Whatever You Want: Sure, if your only goal is losing weight or staying skinny, this will probably work. Get done with a big work out and grab a coke, fries, burger, and some Ho Hos if you want. But here is the deal on this. When you work out, you actually stress your body. That’s the point. You stress it so it learns to do more and become stronger. What do you think a “stressed” body needs? Does it need foods full of chemicals that you can’t pronounce? Or does it need food that will help it heal from the stress you just put on it? When you stress it and then put in bad food, you have actually hit it with a double whammy.

Small Incremental Changes Stick Better Than Drastic Changes: If you are anything like me, you have promised yourself drastic changes on Monday morning only to be sidetracked by Monday night, rummaging through your cabinets for some scrap of chocolate that you know is hidden there because all you have allowed yourself to eat all day are 4 pieces of lettuce and a carrot stick. Drastic changes are usually unrealistic. One small change each week, however, equals drastic changes by the end of the year.

You Can’t Go Wrong with Fruits, Vegetables: Over the years, the one truth that virtually every nutritionist and every study has brought to light is the benefits of fruits and vegetables. Eat them and eat them a lot. When you want a snack before dinner is ready, eat some raw veggies. When you want seconds, have all the fruits and vegetables you want. They build you up!

You Can Have Most Things in Moderation: You can eat a lot of things that might labeled as “not so good”, chicken wings (seriously, delicious), beer (yes, I do like it…you can read my other post about that), ice cream, cookies, chips, whatever. But, don’t eat them all the time. I actually try not to have them in my house very often if at all. I don’t need them, my kids don’t need them, my husband doesn’t need them. We all get enough “treats” in other places. If we are not eating them at home, then when we go out or to a party, we don’t feel bad about eating some there.

Perfection is Not The Goal: I write this last one because I know there is at least one person out there that is really struggling. You are looking for a lifeline, a way to escape this constant nagging you have about how your body isn’t perfect, you need to workout more, you need to eat healthier, you need to lose weight, your thighs aren’t pretty, whatever. I have been there and know what it feels like. I know you weigh yourself in the morning convinced you are fat because of what you ate the night before. I know you keep looking for the big fix, the perfect diet or the next plan you can follow. Right? I know, because I have done this one billion times. I STILL catch myself doing it even though I know it is absolutely ridiculous. Here are two things I finally realized.

Your body will never ever be perfect in your eyes. I am now thin enough and fit enough, but I’m still not perfect. I can still find flaws and you will too. So, today you have to quit working toward perfect and accept your self the way you are or you will keep working towards something that is unattainable.

God has created you to do a lot of important things and obsessing over food all the time isn’t one of them. I promise it isn’t. It is wasting your God given energy on something that is not important. This is energy you could be spending on something that IS important. Yes, you can make healthy choices, but it should not be your God or consume your every thought.

We only get one body. While it’s important not to obsess over it, it is also important to take care of it and nourish it so that we have the energy and the strength to do all the things God has created us to do. Once I realized and adopted these 8 nutritional truths, nourishing my body became a lot easier.

Have a great day everyone! Oh, and eat some veggies 🙂

Question for today. Which truth is the most meaningful to you? For me it’s the last one. I really have to stay away from everything related to being perfect. I don’t count calories, I don’t map out what I am going to eat and I NEVER weigh myself (that is an absolute disaster that I will write more on later!).